Bahrein:Bahrain: Investigate Deaths Linked to CrackdownThe Bahraini government should urgently investigate the killing of at least 18 people during violent crackdowns since protests began on February 14, 2011, Human Rights Watch said today. Most were killed by security forces using excessive force, namely crowd-control equipment at extremely close range and live gunfire, Human Rights Watch said. Four government security officers were also killed, according to the Interior Ministry. The authorities admitted holding four missing persons in the Bahrain Defense Force hospital only after they had succumbed to their injuries. This raises serious concerns regarding the missing persons' treatment and whether authorities are holding other people without notifying their families, Human Rights Watch said.

The West's 'double standards' in Middle EastOne month into the uprising in Bahrain, the warnings of last fall have come to fruition. Bahrain has returned to absolutist rule, with the King declaring martial law a few days after the Saudis entered the country. Aside from violently clearing out and even destroying Pearl Roundabout, the symbol of the protests, the crackdown has been noticeable for three factors. The first is the fact that the government forces have taken over hospitals and prevented them from being used by injured protesters. This move is clearly a violation of international human rights law, but it had the intended effect: major protests leaders have decided that further large scale protests were too dangerous to hold, considering that people shot or otherwise harmed by government forces would not be able to receive medical attention, likely leading to an unacceptably high number of deaths. Second, the government has attempted to arrest leading human rights and pro-democracy activists, with the goal of silencing those with the best ability to document ongoing abuses and relay the information to the outside world. Finally, the United States and other Western countries have clearly thrown their support behind the government, refusing to go beyond mild rebukes against the government-initiated violence, even though they have thrown their full military weight behind the Libyan rebels. ... protesters are insisting on a full democratisation - something that cannot be reconciled with either the King's or the Americans' interests as presently defined.

Libija:Anger over detention of Libyan woman (video)The story of Eman Al Obeidi is fast becoming a rallying cry for Libya's women. After Obeidi pled with journalists to tell her story of rape and abuse at the regime's hands, spokesman Moussa Ibrahim claimed Obeidi - a lawyer - was actually a prostitute. But it seems very few are buying it. "We will never leave you alone, Eman, we will sacrifice our lives just for you and we're all, old and young, supporting you," said one woman at a protest.

Libya Live Blog - March 305:27am As many as 25,000 people have fled the violence in Ajdabiya, the United Nations said in a situation report on Libya released on Tuesday. Since the conflict began, at least 376,485 people have left the country for Egypt, Tunisia, Niger, Algeria, Chad and Sudan.3:38pm Reuters citing rebel sources said 18 civilians have been killed in fighting in rebel-held Misurata on Tuesday.

AI: Document - Libya: detainees, disappeared and missingCases of recently disappeared or missing persons documented by Amnesty International fall into three broad categories:-- government critics, pro-democracy activists, writers and others detained in the lead-up to the peaceful demonstrations held on 17 February 2011 in various cities throughout Libya. They appear to have been arrested by the authorities as a pre-emptive strike in an effort to nip the protests in the bud following the public protests that had caused the downfall of longstanding repressive governments in Tunisia and Egypt, two of Libya's neighbours. Amnesty International has documented cases of people arrested in Tripoli, Benghazi, al-Bayda and Misratah whose fate and whereabouts currently remain unknown. They include some detainees who were initially allowed access to their families or lawyers until such contacts were cut by the authorities once the public protests began. Relatives believe that these and other detainees held when the protests got underway were then transferred to Tripoli by security forces loyal to Colonel al-Gaddafi.-- anti-government protestors and youths who went missing on the evening of 20 February at a time when a special forces unit loyal to Colonel al-Gaddafi – the “Kateeba al-Fadheel” (hereafter, the Kateeba) – were forced to evacuate from a military compound in Benghazi after clashes with protestors opposed to Colonel al-Gaddafi, with some using petrol bombs and other improvised weapons. These violent clashes occurred after the Kateeba or other forces had opened fire on, killing and injuring peaceful protestors. Amnesty International has documented the cases of nine men and boys who have not been seen since they went to the Kateeba compound area on evening of 20 February 2011, including four teenagers under 18. They are believed to have been arrested or abducted by members of the Kateeba unit or other forces brought in from outside Benghazi as reinforcements to the Kateeba before they evacuated their military compound and withdrew from Benghazi.-- individuals reported to have been captured in or near the town of Ben Jawad where there had been intermittent fighting between Colonel al-Gaddafi’s forces and those engaged in armed opposition to his government. Amnesty International has obtained information about a number of individuals who went missing in the area between Ajdebia and Ben Jawad, west of Benghazi. Some are believed to have been fighters, others to be civilians who went to the area in order to assist the wounded, and still others people who may have been onlookers. Currently, many are unaccounted for and it is not known where they are being held or in what conditions, prompting serious concern for their safety.Reports from Tripoli, and other parts of the country that remain under the control of Colonel al-Gaddafi’s forces or have been subject to attack by those forces indicate that the number of those now subject to enforced disappearance is much greater than the number of cases that Amnesty International – which does not have direct access to Tripoli or other areas controlled by Colonel al-Gaddafi’s forces, and where the authorities maintain tight control over information – has so far been able to document.

LIVE: Libyan Unrest: March 31, 20112:46am: And the air strikes continue. Explosions have reportedly shaken an eastern suburb of Tripoli, as warplanes staged a raid on the Libyan capital, a witness has told the AFP news agency. Libya’s state news agency also reported the attack. Shortly after the aircraft flew over the east and southeast suburbs of the city, explosions could be heard in the southeast Salaheddine district, targeting a military site in the area, said the witness, speaking on condition of anonymity.